The second year began with the start-of-term feast and start-of-term prank. Remus, Sirius, Peter and James had managed to charm all the chocolate frogs on the food trolley on the Hogwarts express. Knowing that chocolate frogs were one of the most popular items on the trolley, they had decided to charm them so that everyone who ate them would emit the sound of a different animal or insect whenever they tried to speak. Ensuring that this charm would last the whole night, the Great Hall was filled with croaking, quacking, mewling, barking, buzzing, roaring and hissing.

The four boys sniggered throughout the feast. Even Dumbledore's start-of-the-term announcements had to be cancelled as nobody was able to hear him over all the bedlam.

The boys laughed and reminisced through the night making Frank Longbottom leave the dormitory and sleep in the Common Room due to the ruckus they made. Remus immediately started feeling guilty, not that he didn't feel already. The other three managed to talk him out of it though.

Days flew by and one morning James found himself completing his transfiguration essay in early October. He wrote down feverishly upon his parchment but stopped when he heard soft footsteps on the staircase that led to the dormitory. Someone was creeping downstairs. James knew who that someone was. So he waited in the shadows until Remus passed. Once he had made sure that Remus exited the common room he ran up frantically and woke Sirius up. After a few protests from a disgruntled Sirius, James bellowed in his ears, "Wake up, Sleepyhead! This is IMPORTANT!"

When Sirius was finally awake, he blurted out- "Remus just left to-to meet his grandmother."

"Oh! OK, Let's see if he left a note for us." Sirius proposed.

At Remus' desk they found a note saying that he was off to visit his grandmother who was (again) unwell.

"Check the date!" said Sirius excitedly.

"It's the fifth. And it's a full moon."

The two friends looked at each other, their eyes shining.

"We have to tell Peter about this." James said after a moment.

"He will freak out. Panic. What if he doesn't talk to Remus? I'm sure that's why he didn't tell us in the first place."

"But we can't keep him out of the loop for long," said James. "We'll talk to him and make him see sense."

"I would like to see you try."

James went near Peter's bed and began the tiresome task of waking him up.

Half an hour later, the three boys were strolling around the lake. Peter listened to Sirius' story open-mouthed, forgetting breakfast for the first time in life.

"So... should we tell the teachers? McGonagall would be furious!" he asked.

"Why on the earth would you want to tell the teachers?," Sirius asked. "They'll throw him out of the school."

"The professors might know..", James said, thoughtful. "They never ask about him when he's absent."

"And still they let him stay in the school! That's, that's dangerous. He's a monster!" Peter exclaimed, looking terrified.

"Peter, you have known Remus for a year now. He wouldn't hurt a fly, even if it stings him." said James placidly.

"How can you say that about Remus, Peter? He has helped you out so many times! I can't believe him!" Sirius fumed, turning to look at James.

"Calm down, Sirius," said James, "He's just shocked. And we've known for a while. That's all."

Sirius glowered at Peter, who cowered under his gaze.

"Relax, both of you. We don't need to fight right now. We need to find a way to help him out." James said.

Sirius looked ready to argue but kept quiet. Peter nodded slowly, still a bit frightened.

They spent the next day brainstorming for ideas to help Remus though they were not very successful. At the end they decided that they would talk to Remus first.

Lily and Severus sat side by side in the Potions class. Being adept at Potions themselves they never needed to worry about the work that they had been assigned. And being Slughorn's favourite students meant they could talk freely to each other.

"Severus, did you get hurt when those boys pulled a prank on you?" Lily asked, concerned as she chopped the ingredients for today's potion.

"No," said Severus curtly, "but Bellatrix is still in the hospital wing and the first years jump at every little noise."

James and Sirius had placed invisible firecrackers in the corridor that led to the Slytherin Common Room. The crackers burst everytime the students set foot in the corridor. Several Slytherins had sustained injuries, Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy being the most hurt. Sirius was delighted.

"I was going to report those boys to Professor McGonagall but they had already received detentions from her." Lily informed him.

"Please stay away from them Lily. They'll get you into trouble too." Severus implored stopping in the act of lighting for beneath his cauldron.

"I never talk to them Severus. I speak only to Remus and he does not support their childish nonsense, you know that." Lily spoke earnestly, "and you need to crush those leaves before adding them to the potion!" She added.

"If I crush them the potion won't last long." Severus told her absently as he added 3 clockwise stirs, "Anyway," he continued, "if they are not your friends then why is Potter staring at you right now?"

Lily turned around, annoyed, to see James gazing at her, who promptly turned his attention to his Potion after getting caught.

"He keeps doing that," she said in a pained voice. "It creeps me out. I am definitely going to report him."

"You stay away from him." said Severus, a little forcefully this time.

"I always do, Sev." Lily smiled at him, "Don't be so worried."

Severus returned her smile.

James, Sirius and Peter had tried to talk to Remus many times over the next few months. But their courage failed every time they saw Remus get tense when they broached the topic. So, they concentrated on finding a solution instead. They had read several books on lycanthropy and found out that only an animal with extensive force could stop a werewolf from harming himself and others. There was no way to cure lycanthropy. Peter had stupidly wondered if they could become animals. James had stated at his friend for a long time his expression that of exasperation in the begining which gave way to excitement.

"Yes! We can be animals!" he had jumped up from his chair and hugged Peter and a bewildered Sirius.

"Mate, what are you on about?" Sirius had asked disbelievingly.

"Animals. We can be animals! Animagus, Sirius. Like old McGonagall!" James had explained impatiently.

"But I don't want to become a cat. I'd rather be a dog."

"Sirius! Everyone doesn't have to be a cat. It changes from person to person." James had said, a bit annoyed.

This new discovery brought a fresh bout of euphoria and they began their research for animagus transformation- the next step in their 'Help Remus' campaign. They had started to join Remus in Library which made him both curious and bewildered, but he kept his mouth shut.

After a thorough research in the procedure of becoming an animagus, they had finally decided that they would speak to Remus before they started the procedure. So, a day before their Easter holidays ended, they found themselves in the dormitory, waiting for Remus to arrive from the Library, their faces grim.

"Hi Remus!" the three chorused.

" Hello?"

"We need to talk to you about something." Peter began, only to lapse into silence.

"Yes?"

"Umm.. How is your grandmother, Remus?" James asked suddenly. "She was unwell, wasn't she?"

Remus looked every bit scared but tried to answer in a calm and neutral voice.

"She's getting better."

"So, you don't have to visit her every month?"

"I don't visit her every month!" said Remus defensively. "Look! We need to go down for dinner."

"Dinner can wait." said Peter.

Even James and Sirius looked at him, momentarily surprised. "This is more important." Peter answered the unasked question.

"Look Remus, we just um-err,"James began, but Sirius had lost it finally and said," We know what you are Remus! You are Moony!"

Remus blanched. "What did you call me?"

"Moony!"cried James in dawning comprehension.

"This is nonsense."

"So you fall ill mysteriously every full moon because of your grandmother's hereditary disease, do you?" Sirius asked.

For once, Remus was lost for all words.

James, Sirius and Peter explained further. "We have figured out what you are. We are not going to tell this to anybody. And we are not going to complaining. Just listen to us, will you?"

Remus listened to their story, dumbfounded. Apparently, they had known that he was a werewolf since the beginning of the year and kept quiet about it. They had spent all these months trying to figure out how to help him instead of deserting him. As if this was not enough, they had come up with the most bizzare solution for his problem. Remus wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. After taking several deep breaths, he croaked," You are mad." He shook his head again and said, "You are mad." and after a certain pause, "You are mad."

James and Sirius started to chuckle and even Peter gave a shaky laugh.

"So, I'll just ask Professor McGonagall to change my dormitory." said Remus in a dejected voice. He had actually started towards the door when Sirius and James dragged him back to his bed and said, "You are not going anywhere. We are your friends and we are going to help you."

"So, you were not joking?" he said in a small hopeful voice.

His three friends shook their heads vehemently.

"Of course not" they said in unison.

"You are mad."

They began to laugh, in which Remus joined them reluctantly a few seconds later.

"But you cannot become animagi." he said seriously when the laughter had subsided.

"But Remus-" Sirius began.

"No, Sirius. This is not one of your pranks. Everything can go wrong. This is extremely dangerous. And no one is going to let you become an animagus at the age of twelve!"

"Who's going to stop us?" Sirius asked mischievously.

"I am, for starters. Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, your parents, the Ministry."

"Can't tell them then, can we?"

"That would be illegal," said Remus horrified. " And you are not doing it."

"But we want to help you" said James earnestly.

"But you already are. This is more than I could ever ask, more than I ever hoped for. You are not deserting me, you are not reporting me, you are not even afraid of me. I don't need anything else."

"But-but-but," Sirius spluttered, "You are a normal person. You just have a problem. And we want to HELP you."

" You are a wonderful person, Remus. This is nothing that you don't deserve. Besides, we never asked for your permission." James smirked, "The three of us are going to become Animagi on our own even if you help us or not. That was decided months ago, really."

"We just want you to stay quiet about this. If it comes to blackmailing you, we will." said Sirius jovially.

"It,'s a lot less dangerous than transforming into Moony every month, anyway." said Peter.

" I don't have a choice," said Remus, aghast.

"That's another reason to help you," Peter told him firmly. "And now we are going down to dinner."